The Hunt is On
by NegaiFreak
Summary: Class 1-A has a chance to get some extra credit! After their final exams, the group takes on a special exercise in the forests of Magnolia, finding clues and fighting in pairs in order to win. However, with Ken Tennyson involved, things get a bit hairy for both Natalie and Izuku... FEATURES MULTIPLE PAIRINGS! PLEASE READ, REVIEW, AND ENJOY! SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!


**Ready for some more My Hero Academia action? Inspired by TerrorKing10's story idea about a scavenger hunt, I thought I'd brush up on the approach and make a story surrounding a fun contest the Class 1-A students could do. Now this takes place after the Final Exam Arc in the My Hero Academia series if you've read the manga or know about the story, but is before the Forest Lodge Arc.**

 **Be prepared to also hear some insight into some roles of the members of the Omni Force themselves, and what potential conflicts could arise from certain relationships. Yes, there is going to be a few surprises here and there.**

 **So buckle in because "The Hunt is On"!**

 **THE HUNT IS ON**

Birds chirped in the sky over the forest beyond Magnolia's borders as a light wind whistled by. Leaves swayed gently from the breeze before a spark of green electricity emitted out of the thin air right at the entrance to the woods. More flashed rapidly before a green portal suddenly appeared, swirling in a hypnotic way. A figure emerged from it after a moment, being Shota Aizawa as he trudged out with his hands tucked into his pockets. He came to a stop and pulled out an eye dropper, twisting off the cap and aiming it so that a few artificial tears would hit his eyes, which he closed to let them settle in.

"Whoa!" a perky, feminine voice yelped in surprise, causing him to blink and turn back to see others coming out of the vortex. Ochaco Uraraka was the first to come out, followed by Rikido Sato, Tsuyu Asui, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, Denki Kaminari, Kyoka Jiro, Minoru Mineta, Momo Yaoyorozu, Raya Tennyson, Rachael Hagane, Alice Fullbuster, Natalie Dragneel, Tenya Iida, Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugo, and Izuku Midoriya. Almost all of them seemed to marvel their surroundings despite the obvious and rather bland setting they were currently in. They were all dressed in their gym uniforms as they glanced around.

"All right, settle down," their teacher chimed in, getting their attentions as they looked over at him, "Just because we're doing this in a new universe doesn't mean this shouldn't be taken seriously," he stated as he loomed over everyone, "This exercise could determine the future for you…" he told them, making them grimace a little, especially the ones there who had failed their test exercises for the final of the semester, "That said, it's not like all of you need to stake your lives on this," he mentioned, "Extra credit exercises like today's aren't mandatory," he pointed out as the students listened carefully, "We do them on a regular basis after the semester finals to give failures a chance to pick up the slack and get out of summer school hell," he explained as he pulled out an MPG from his pocket, pressing its center to cause the portal to vanish.

"Excuse me, Mister Aizawa!" the Engine quirk user exclaimed as he raised his right hand up sharply, "What is this extra credit exercise we're conducting today?" he asked curiously.

"A test of courage," the unkempt man responded, "You'll each be forming in pairs and taking one of the ten paths through that forest up to heart of it," he explained while gesturing towards the wooded area behind him, "Once there, your goal is to get your hands on the talisman," he stated, "The team with it at the very end wins and gets the extra credit," he finished, staring over at the remedial group that seemed very attentive.

"So there's going to be nine teams then?" Momo asked as she blinked.

"I'm just surprised that there are more boys than girls for this…" Kyoka mentioned, glancing around at the rest of her classmates.

"Actually, there's one more thing," their teacher chimed in, catching their attentions, "We need an even number of boys and girls for the exercise," he started to explain, glancing off to the side, "so we have a few potential students partaking in it with us today," he finished as he pointed off to his left with his thumb, enticing everyone to glance over and gasp. Trotting over to them and dressed in the same U.A. garb as well were Kenneth Tennyson and Devlin Levin, with the former generating the most shock out of the class.

"Kenny?!" both his sister and his ex-girlfriend exclaimed simultaneously as their eyes were widened. Izuku was definitely astonished as well, recognizing the two as children of famous Omni Force members.

' _Wait…_ ' he inwardly uttered as blinked, ' _are they trying to get into U.A., too?_ ' he asked himself out of wonder.

"I'm sure you're already familiar with these two from your history lessons about multiversal heroes," Aizawa said, causing him to perk up, "Don't judge them based on blood or appearances," he advised, "They're strong," he mentioned as he trotted off for a moment.

"Guess he's giving us a few minutes to get ready…" Toru suggested while letting out a quick breath of air.

"For what though?" Denki asked as he walked off with her and the Earphone Jack quirk user to start a separate discussion, "He hasn't said a thing about what the test of courage is!" he yelled.

"Well, if ya wanna stay out of summer school, you're gonna need to pass it," the short haired girl beside him noted, causing him to grit his teeth angrily.

"Man, this got crazy real fast, didn't it?" Eijiro pointed out while rubbing the back of his head.

"Gotta say, I'm excited!" Mina admitted with a gleeful smile, "I don't think I've felt this way since the sports festival!" she added, pumping her fists.

"What about you, Bakugo?" the Hardening quirk user asked, looking over at his fellow spiky haired classmate. He was surprised to see that he was apparently zoning out, glaring over at Alice.

"Grr…" he growled, closing his right hand into a fist.

"Seems as if there's a reason why we have an equal amount of boys and girls," Shoto mentioned from afar, gathered with both Tenya and Izuku as his hand was upon his chin.

"You're right," the former of the two with him there concurred, "It's too bad that Sero couldn't partake in this," he pointed out, somewhat saddened.

"Yeah," the unkempt haired teen beside him agreed with a nod, "In fact, a lot of guys couldn't make it since they already had plans for the weekend," he explained, looking over at Ken and Devlin as they were walking towards the group of multiversal girls.

' _Mister Aizawa sent out that message that there'd be an extra credit exercise over the weekend if we wanted to participate and needed our responses before then,_ ' he remembered, while his two friends continued to discuss the possibility of what they'd be participating in, ' _I guess since there weren't enough guys to girls who could do it, he got ahold of their parents and asked if they could join in,_ ' he realized, starting to walk towards the larger group of people, ' _But then again…_ ' he started to note through his thoughts, ' _what if they're wanting to be heroes here?_ ' he asked himself.

"Deku!" Uraraka's voice exclaimed as a hand touched his left shoulder, causing him to turn and see her and Tsuyu there, "We were just talking about what the exercise is gonna be," she told him.

"I think it's gonna be some kinda race to get that talisman Mister Aizawa talked about," the Frog quirk user explained as she placed her finger onto her right cheek, "There's probably gonna be some obstacles on the way to make it more challenging," she added cleverly.

"Yeah…" the boy there agreed as he glanced over at their multiversal classmates and the guests.

"Hey Deku," the brunette haired girl began, catching his attention as he turned his head back to her, "what's that thing on his wrist?" she questioned while pointing towards the watch-like device that was around the arm of the Tennyson boy.

"That's called the Omnitrix," he answered as he gestured to his own wrist, "It's the same kind of device that Ben Tennyson had back when he was a kid," he explained to them.

"So that must mean he can turn into all kinds of aliens…" the frog-like girl there realized as she blinked. While they continued to talk and discuss their potential rivals, they looked over at them curiously.

"Isn't that the Izuku guy your dad was talking about from that Sports Festival?" Devlin asked his best friend.

"You mean the same guy he wouldn't shut up about?" he responded in question, arching an eyebrow while glancing over at him, "Yeah, that's him all right…" he grumbled.

"Kenny…" his sister chimed in, catching his attention as he looked over to see her stern expression with Natalie standing beside her.

"Hey sis, how've you been here?" he asked in a hearty tone, disregarding his previous disposition, "Is hero studying fun?" he questioned on. To his surprise, she sighed deeply as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Kenny, don't think I'm dumb," she advised, causing some of the others to perk up upon hearing her voice, "I know you wanna be a hero as much as the next guy," she continued sternly, "but that doesn't mean you can try to get a date out of it," she stated, making him blink in astonishment.

"Heh," he laughed, "What are you talking about?" he asked with a shrug, "Dad told me about an opportunity to learn about hero work, so I'm taking it," he declared rather smugly.

"All right, fine," his sibling concurred after a moment, allowing him to walk off alongside Devlin.

"Huh…" the fire dragon slayer breathed out once he left, "Thanks for that, Raya," she said in gratitude to the half-rainbow haired girl.

"Hey, no problem," she replied while placing her hands at her hips, "I know you only dumped him just so you could stay focused on schoolwork," she pointed out, "so it's not like he should be trying to get with you again," she mentioned cleverly.

"Well… I did promise that we'd catch up during breaks and when I graduated…" the pigtailed girl admitted, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "I guess he's a little impatient…" she realized ashamedly. Having overheard their conversation, Izuku blinked in surprise as he glanced over at the Omnitrix bearer.

"Hm…" he hummed worriedly, looking back at Natalie as he closed his hand into a fist.

"All right, let's get started!" the teacher yelled, making everyone turn their heads to see him launching ten drones into the air, as the sound of their propellers spinning echoed while taking off in different directions.

"Hey, what are those for?" Minoru asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.

"To keep track of each team and make sure you behave yourself," Shota responded, causing the ball haired boy to arch an eyebrow, "Now form pairs of only boys and girls," he said to the students, "Rock-paper-scissors and then have the winners come to me," he advised while readying something else from the bag he had brought.

"So we're just pairing up like that?" the freckled boy questioned, evidently confused.

"Midoriya," Tenya chimed in, catching his attention as he saw him raise his right hand to him, "care to try and beat me?" he offered.

"Uh, sure," he replied, readying his own extremity as it was still a fist.

' _It doesn't seem like he'd be the kind of guy who'd just do this just to see his old girlfriend,_ ' he noted inwardly, still distracted as he glanced over at both Kenny and Natalie as they were playing with their respective friends, ' _Well, it's not like I should worry about that…_ ' he concluded to himself.

"It appears I've won," his spectacled friend noted, snapping him away from his thoughts as he saw that his fist had been covered by his opponent's hand.

"Oh! Uh… yeah!" he stuttered in surprise, pulling himself away somewhat nervously, "Guess you better go to Mister Aizawa then…" he mentioned, causing him to nod before heading off. With him were Rikido, Shoto, Katsuki, Ken, Momo, Tsuyu, Mina, Jiro, and Rachael as they gathered around their teacher.

"Okay…" he grumbled as he set both a blue and a pink box upon the ground, both with the word 'LOTS' emblazoned on them, "guys pick from the pink one, girls from the blue," he explained to them. Those watching from afar blinked in confusion, wondering what was to happen. "Whoever's name you get will be your partner for the exercise," the bearded man told them, making them perk up. Upon hearing him, the Engine quirk user immediately reached his hand into the pink box and pulled out a slip of paper, unfolding it to read what it said.

"Alice Fullbuster," he stated, causing the ice and water mage to blink in surprise before smiling a little.

"Tch," the Bakugo teen scoffed, sounding somewhat frustrated.

"Eijiro Kirishima!" the pink skinned girl exclaimed excitedly after getting her slip, causing the spiky haired teen to gasp happily.

"All right!" he bellowed, high fiving her afterwards, "We can both get outta summer school if we get that talisman!" he realized happily, making her nod in agreement.

"Okay…" the thick-lipped teen uttered as he pulled out his slip of paper from the pink box, unfolding it, "I'm with… Hagakure!" he read off as he widened his eyes.

"Woohoo!" the invisible girl cheered excitedly, "Don't worry, Sato!" she reassured confidently, "I'll do my best to help you get outta summer school!" she declared, causing him to grin sheepishly.

"Ugh…" Jiro groaned after getting her slip, rolling her eyes, "You're with me, Kaminari…" she grumbled while glancing over at him.

"Why's that a bad thing?!" he screamed in questioned, evidently upset.

"Uraraka, huh?" Shoto said after reading his paper, catching the attention of the Zero Gravity quirk user as she beamed upon hearing him.

"Wow, that's great, Ochaco!" Tsuyu noted with a smile towards her.

"Yeah!" Izuku agreed as the half-white and red haired teen trotted over, "Both you and Todoroki could really do a lot together with your Quirks!" he pointed out as the pair met and began to discuss a strategy together.

"Hm…" Momo hummed as she took out a slip from the blue box, unfolding it, "Devlin… Levin?" she uttered out, catching the attention of the hybrid Osmosian as he perked up.

"Uh, yes?" he said, stepping forward to approach her. She turned to him and smiled, causing him to blush a little. He had never seen a girl that seemed so pretty to him that he would have to turn his head away for a moment.

"I hope you and I can work well together," she told him kindly.

"Uh… me too…" he concurred, sheepishly scratching his right cheek.

"Aw, they look so cute!" Mina cooed from afar quietly.

"They even kinda have the same look…" Eijiro noted as he rubbed the back of his head.

"My turn!" Katsuki shouted, shoving Kenny aside as he reached into the pink box, ripping out a slip of paper and unfolding, "Okay, I'm with the rainbow chick!" he bellowed, causing both Raya and Rachael to perk up in surprise.

"Excuse me?!" the latter exclaimed angrily, much to her girlfriend's astonishment as she saw her stomp over to him, " _What_ did you just call my girlfriend?!" she asked loudly.

"Tch," he scoffed in response, bumping her aside as he went over to the Equestrian magic user, who grimaced a little.

"Are you next, Rachael?" Shota asked, catching the requip user's attention as she was snapped away from her rage.

"Uh, yeah!" she yelped, grabbing a slip of paper from the box and pulling it out. Once she read it though, she immediately paled in fear. "C-Can I get a do-over?" she stuttered pleadingly as her teacher raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong, Rae?" Tsuyu asked while tilting her head to the side.

"The only one left aside from Kenny and Deku is…" Natalie started to realize, widening her eyes with the greenish haired girl beside her.

"M-Minoru… Mineta…" the Hagane girl finally stammered out, evidently embarrassed and frightened as she gulped.

"Woo!" the Pop Off quirk user exclaimed, pumping his fists excitedly.

"Ergh…" his future partner groaned in frustration, trudging off in defeat.

"All right, that settles it," the teacher declared afterwards, "Tennyson will partner with Dragneel, and Asui will have Midoriya," he told them, causing those named to perk up.

"Sweet!" the Omnitrix bearer exclaimed as he walked over to his ex-girlfriend, who smiled nervously.

"So I'm with Asui, huh?" Izuku inquired with a blink of his eyes.

"I've already told you to call me Tsu!" his teammate shouted rather calmly, suddenly appearing beside him as he gasped in shock.

"Oh, uh… sorry!" he stuttered in apology, blushing a little.

"Now that teams have been decided, I'll explain the whole exercise," Shota chimed in as everyone listened carefully, "First off, the teams themselves," he began, "Heroes tend to work alongside other pros as I'm sure you've already known," he continued to explain, "and men and women working together isn't uncommon," he stated, causing most of them to blink in surprise, "However, that doesn't mean they're trying to impress each other with their hero work," he kept going, "Like I said, I sent out those drones to keep an eye on your progress and to make sure you behave appropriately," he told them sternly, glancing specifically towards the ball haired boy, who grimaced a little, "Your goal as a team is to find two clues before even getting to the location of the talisman," he explained, using his smartphone to pull up a holographic image of the forest from above, "Each team will be taking a different path and have a few obstacles before reaching the center of the forest," he continued, shutting off the device as the map disappeared, "The winning team that gets the talisman at the end with their two clues gets the extra credit," he finished.

"So that means at most, only two can get out of summer school…" Alice realized while placing her hand onto her chin.

"We're gonna do our best!" Eijiro suddenly declared.

"Yeah!" Mina, Denki, and Rikido shouted in agreement, pumping their fists simultaneously.

"Well, get to it," their teacher advised, letting out a sigh before trotting off.

"Fullbuster, can you tell me what we could expect to see in these forests?" Tenya asked his partner as they walked off to the side to discuss a strategy. Every other team seemed to be doing the same aside from Katsuki and Raya, and Minoru and Rachael. The former team was not even communicating with each other as the male of the two was eyeing the ice and water mage intently, while the latter team had the requip user ignoring anything that came out of her partner's mouth.

"Hm…" Izuku hummed, trying to think of his own plan when considering who his comrade was. However, his thoughts were snapped away from him as he saw Ken walking away with Natalie, placing his hand onto her left shoulder. Though he did not think that the Omnitrix bearer was acting as if he was reuniting with his former girlfriend, the freckled boy couldn't help but close his hand into a fist.

 **X**

A while passed after each team had chosen a path and departed into the forest. The drones that were observing them had cameras, which their teacher could see the footage of from his phone, sighing out of boredom. Meanwhile, the greenish haired pair was walking along rather casually, keeping an eye out for any obstacles or clues.

"I'm surprised Mister Aizawa was okay with us coming to this universe..." Izuku admitted as he and Tsuyu continued to venture through the forested area.

"Probably because there's no villains that could attack us here," she responded while placing her finger onto her chin, "Plus, it's a good way for us to work as teams in environments we're unfamiliar with," she added with a little croak.

"I guess you're right, Asui," her partner agreed as he smiled, only for her to suddenly get right into his face.

"I told you to call me Tsu!" she yelled at him, having seemingly no change in her expression.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" he screamed in surprise, blushing madly as he backed away quickly, "S-Sorry about that!" he apologized while stuttering, holding his hands out in a placating manner.

"Although, I don't think all of us are at a disadvantage here..." the frog quirk user admitted, catching his attention as he perked up slightly.

 _'Yeah, that's right,_ ' he realized, placing his right hand onto his chin, _'Both Natalie and Alice are from this universe, so they probably know the grounds inside and out,_ ' he explained inwardly, glancing off into the dark forest, ' _I wonder if she's doing okay with that Kenny guy..._ ' he said to himself, narrowing his eyes, ' _She did say they were boyfriend and girlfriend before she went to U.A.,_ ' he recalled. Suddenly, the sound of the underbrush rustling made him and his comrade perk up, seeing something jump out from the shrubbery and land before them. They gasped to see that it was a large, anthropomorphic monster that resembled a primate. It possessed distinctive facial features, being an elongated chin, prolonged ears, and a pointed head that resembled a single horn on top of its head. It had gargantuan arms and sequentially large hands that were attached to its muscular torsos. In comparison to its upper body, it evidently possessed a pair of smaller-scaled legs that featured a long tail connected to the bottom of its torso. The fur on it arms formed a decorative pattern.

"A monkey?" Tsuyu uttered in confusion with a blink of her eyes. Izuku grimaced slightly, but then noticed a rolled up piece of paper tied around its neck.

"There's the clue!" he exclaimed, pointing at it as the girl beside him saw it as well, "You ready, Asu- I mean, Tsu?!" he called out, quickly correcting himself in the nick of time as he got into a ready stance.

"Ready!" she responded, preparing herself. Red lines began streaking all across the messy haired boy's arms and legs, even going all the way up to his face.

"Eehee..." the vulcan chuckled, grinning widely as he saw his male opponent clench his fists tightly.

' _One for All... FULL COWLING!_ ' he inwardly exclaimed, prepared to fight as the lines around him disappeared, followed by him sparking with green electricity.

"Ribbit?" the girl beside him croaked in surprise as she saw him leap out in an instant, punching the creature fiercely in the torso.

"Ooh, hoo…" he chuckled again, grinning sadistically at his foe, "You got some nerve thinking that'll be enough…" he muttered, causing him to widen his eyes in shock.

' _He can talk?!_ ' he screamed through his thoughts, which were interjected as he got smacked aside by his left arm, slamming hard into a tree.

"Midoriya!" his teammate cried out worriedly. Just then, she noticed a shadow looming over her, seeing that their foe was lunging at her. She took a great leap over him, stretching out her tongue and wrapping it around his left arm. He arched an eyebrow in confusion before he found himself yanked down by her strength, smashing against the ground.

"Ooo…" he growled, standing back up within the cloud of dust that was created, "You think that'll be enough too, missy?!" he claimed angrily, clenching his teeth tightly. All of a sudden though, he was punched in the face by the messy haired boy, causing him to stumble back a few steps, while Tsuyu's tongue was relinquished from him.

"How are we gonna get that note offa' him…?" she asked as her comrade jumped back over to her side.

"He seems pretty stubborn…" he noted, seeing him pound his chest with his fists like a gorilla, "so I guess we need to knock him out," he concluded while getting into a ready stance, continuing to have electricity spark around him.

"But he took that punch of yours pretty well…" the Frog quirk user pointed out as she put her right index finger upon her chin, "What should we do?" she questioned, glancing over at her teammate. He narrowed his eyes in thought, focusing on the surrounding trees in the area.

"I think I've got something," he declared, closing his hands into fists, "Grab me when I say," he advised to her, jumping out in an instant to her surprise as she saw him land right in front of the vulcan.

"Ooh, so you wanna get beat?" he inquired while grinning sadistically again, about to slam his fist down onto him. However, he quickly zipped away in time, jumping off of the surrounding trees.

' _That last punch I threw just didn't have enough oomph to it…_ ' he realized inwardly as the electricity around him sparked wildly, ' _so with Tsu this time, I'll get a bit more!_ ' he declared to himself, zooming right behind the girl.

"Tsu, now!" he cried out, enticing her to stretch out her long tongue and swing it back to wrap around his waist, pulling him forward rapidly as he clenched his teeth.

"Ooo?!" the ape-like creature yelped in surprise as he saw him coming.

"Five Percent…" he began to yell, readying his right fist as he was flung out at him, "DETROIT SMASH!" he bellowed, striking the beast fiercely in the face. He groaned in agony before being sent flying across the path, tumbling along the ground he hit into a tree as a trail of dust billowed in his wake.

"Wow…" the greenish haired girl uttered in amazement as Izuku landed down upon the earth, letting out a breath of relief. His attack had knocked the creature unconscious as a dopey expression was upon his reddened face. The Frog quirk user used her tongue to take the clue from his neck, taking it into her hands.

"What's it say?" her teammate asked as the sparks of electricity around his body had vanished. She unfolded the roll of paper, letting her eyes scan the Japanese letters upon it.

"'The secret to being a successful hero that is both popular and professional…'," she read, blinking in confusion, "Ribbit?" she croaked with a tilt of her head, "That's all it says…" she told the boy beside her, who went over and took the paper himself.

"It's the start of a sentence…" he noted, glancing out towards the pathway they had yet to track down.

"So the next clue is probably the rest of it," Tsuyu realized as she looked over with him.

"Yeah…" he agreed, "We should probably hurry," he noted while looking back over at the defeated vulcan, "If it was that easy for us to take that guy down, it won't be a problem for the others…" he explained, getting a nod in reply from his comrade.

"Let's go! Ribbit!" she croaked, rushing off with him through the forest path. In the meantime, sounds of crackling electricity and explosions roared throughout the trees as the drones took notice from above. All ten of the teams had successfully defeated the ape-like beasts they had gone up against, each getting their clues from them.

"What's this supposed to mean?" Raya asked as she looked at the note that she had obtained, while Katsuki was trudging off, "'is to be able to see yourself as a hero that is both professional and popular…'?" she read, very confused by it, "Sounds like a half a sentence…" she grumbled, scratching at her head in confusion.

"Hey rainbow chick, hurry up!" the Explosion quirk user demanded, catching her attention, "Let's get that next clue already and find the damn talisman!" he yelled before heading off again.

"Uh, wait!" his teammate cried out, chasing after him as she stuffed the slip of paper away. He shoved his hands into his pockets angrily, glaring ahead at the open path.

' _I'll show that damn nerd just what I can do…_ ' he muttered inwardly as he clenched his teeth tightly, ' _and that stripper, too…_ ' he added to himself.

 **X**

 **FLASHBACK**

" _AAAAAHHH!" Alice shrieked in embarrassment, covering her barren chest from view with her arms._

" _WH-WH-WH-WHAT?!" the voice of Present Mic echoed through the stadium's loudspeakers, sounding evidently shocked, "Did Bakugo's explosions just blow away Fullbuster's bra?!" he asked loudly, "That's certainly an unexpected turn of events!" he pointed out. The ice and water mage teared up in frustration as she had been exposed for the world to see, while her parents watched on worriedly._

" _Stand up!" her opponent suddenly yelled in a demanding tone, catching her attention as she looked to see him in a ready stance, letting small explosions burst off of his hands, "I'm not letting you pull out when we're this close to settling this!" he declared, smiling rather sadistically._

" _No, I'm done!" she screamed back, much to his surprise as he saw her fall onto her knees, "Midnight, I'm withdrawing from the match!" she yelled desperately towards the referee, looking very torn emotionally._

" _I understand," she responded with a nod, "Fullbuster has decided to withdraw!" she bellowed, gesturing towards the Explosion quirk user, "Bakugo moves onto the finals!" she stated, causing the whole crowd to cheer upon hearing the result. However, the victor did not seem at all pleased._

" _Pathetic…" he muttered out, making his former foe perk up as she saw him leave, "I don't want a half-assed win like that…" he grumbled as she seethed angrily, keeping her chest covered._

 _After the events that took place in the Sports Festival, both she and the usually angry teen interned together at Best Jeanist's office, where the former gained a valuable experience and even got help getting a better costume together with clothing fibers that made it feel as if she was wearing nothing at all. Once they both returned from their workplace experiences with the rest of their class, they took part in a survival training exercise with a group from another school, leading to another confrontation between them after he had beaten one of his classmates._

 _"Ah..." Izuku groaned in pain once the smoke cleared, revealing him lying on the ground in a heap as several burn marks were apparent along his face. The sleeves of his costume had been torn up from the blast as well, while everyone else looked on in shock._

 _"Midoriya!" Shoto cried out, rushing over to him alongside Ochaco and Mina, while Natalie and Alice stood by the cave's entrance, still stunned._

 _"HA!" Katsuki laughed loudly, catching their attentions as they saw him stomp his right foot on Romero Fujimi's head, grinning rather sadistically, "That damn nerd got what was coming to him, and you're next!" he declared as a few small explosions emitted from his right hand in a threatening manner. The fire dragon slayer growled angrily as she clenched her fists and teeth tightly, about to run out and attack him. However, she stopped herself upon noticing her friend drop her white jacket onto the ground, stepping out in front of her._

 _"That's enough, Katsuki," she said with a cold aura wafting around her as she readied her fingers, "Stop this nonsense before I make you," she advised seriously, narrowing her eyes onto him. He merely raised an eyebrow at her remark, thinking that she was attempting to say that she was stronger than him. He closed his hands into fists before rocketing himself forward in an instant by creating another blast from his extremities._

 _"YOU ASKED FOR THIS, STRIPPER!" he bellowed, swinging his right leg out to kick her. She quickly raised her left arm to block the attack, causing the sound of a crack to echo throughout the area._

 _"Allura!" the Dragneel girl exclaimed in fright, thinking that her arm had just been broken. However, she blinked in surprise to see that her entire limb appeared to be covered by ice, which was cracking up from the impact of the attack._

 _"Armor, huh?" the Explosion quirk user inquired as he smirked._

 _"I took my time during our internships to learn some things," his opponent responded as she fired a gush of water from the palm of her right hand, blowing him away as he landed on his feet and shook his head, "Best Jeanist did more than just figure out some things for my costume..." she added, letting her icy armor break off of her arm._

 _"Hmph," Katsuki scoffed, blasting himself forward again as he grinned evilly at the Fullbuster girl, "This won't be a half-assed win like the festival!" he bellowed, about to envelop her in an explosion as he stuck his hands out at her. The sound of the blast caught the attentions of those attending to Izuku, causing them to gasp in shock as they glanced over at the billowing smoke._

 _"Allura, no!" Ochaco screamed, evidently worried. Katsuki smirked at his work, thinking that he had easily won against another adversary._

 _"You're right," she answered from within the veil, much to his surprise as his eyes widened, "It won't be like that again," she stated. Without warning, her foe found himself kneed directly in the torso by her right leg, which was encased in ice. "Because this time, I will win," she declared, morphing her hands into water before grasping the enraged teen's._

 _"Hey, let go!" he demanded, prying himself free with the sound of a splash as he and she landed back on the ground, "Grr..." he growled, preparing his hands once more to fire off explosions. Unfortunately for him, nothing happened, much to his surprise as he glanced back at his gloved extremities, which were soaking wet. "You bi-!" Before he could even finish his remark, he was struck in the face by his enemy's fists, which were encased in icy gauntlets. She punched him over and over, not giving him a chance to counterattack._

 _"Whoa... what happened?" Mina asked as she blinked in confusion._

 _"Fullbuster must've used her water to wash all that sweat off of his hands," Shoto concluded after a moment of thought._

 _"Oh, that's right!" the Zero Gravity quirk user realized as she snapped her fingers, "Bakugo's explosions are only more powerful when he sweats more!" she exclaimed._

 _"So that means he's a sitting duck for Allura!" the messy haired girl realized as she pumped her left fist excitedly. At that moment, the ice and water mage landed a devastating punch onto her foe's face, knocking him down onto the ground._

 _"Ugh..." he groaned in agony, barely managing to lift his head up to see her looming over him._

 _"That's what would've happened at the Sports Festival," she stated before walking off, "And don't think I won't prove it again..." she added in a menacing tone. He merely clenched his teeth in frustration, falling unconscious soon afterwards._

 **END FLASHBACK**

Both memories made Katsuki seethe angrily out of both frustration and embarrassment. He did not get the fight he wanted from the tournament, but when he did later, he was humiliated in an easy defeat. More so than his grudge towards Izuku, he wanted nothing more than to prove he was superior to the Fullbuster girl in his sheer strength and will.

"I said wait!" his teammate cried out again, jogging after him, "Honestly, I can't believe you and Izuku got through the practical if you were like this…" she noted, causing him to perk up as he clenched his teeth, "Anyways…" she kept going as she pulled out the piece of paper they obtained earlier, "I think the other half of this clue must be what we're supposed to find next…" she concluded, placing her hand onto her chin. All of a sudden, she bumped into him from behind, making her yelp in shock as she thought he would try to attack her. However, she then noticed that they had reached a clearing, seeing that the drone following them was soaring overhead.

"Huh?" the Explosion quirk user uttered in confusion as he saw another machine fly in, hovering right beside theirs.

" _Team Bakugo and Tennyson versus team Iida and Fullbuster,_ " they both echoed in the voice of their teacher, " _The winning team takes the clue from the losing team,_ " they stated together.

"Wait, what?" Raya said in surprise as she blinked, glancing over and gasping to see both Tenya and Alice having come out of another pathway.

"So it's a two-on-two match?" the spectacled student guessed as his exhaust pipes extended out from his legs.

"Tenya, I'll help you with Raya after I take down Katsuki," the ice and water mage told him as she got into a ready stance.

"Thank you, Fullbuster," he responded with a grin.

"Great…" the Equestrian magic user muttered as she backed away nervously, "Bad enough we gotta fight those two to even _try_ and move on…" she noted, evidently anxious.

"Take four eyes," her teammate advised, making her perk up as she looked over to see the sadistic grin forming upon his face, "The stripper's mine!" he bellowed, suddenly blasting himself upwards by letting explosions shoot out from his palms, "NOW DIE!" he roared angrily, firing off a blast towards his female foe, enveloping her in smoke as his other opponent jumped away.

"Fullbuster!" he called out, hoping that she was okay. Fortunately, as the smoke dissipated, it revealed that she had encased both of her arms in ice, crossing them to shield herself as she smirked at her adversary.

"Tch!" he scoffed angrily, "Don't underestimate me!" he yelled, shooting himself over her head and landing directly behind her. He then pivoted, turning around to try and strike her with a point blank explosion. As he did so though, he widened his eyes to see that he had only struck the jacket of her U.A. uniform, which blew away with the wind as he turned around to see her coming, readying her hands as they were enveloped in water.

"I would never dream of underestimating you, Katsuki," she retorted while attempting to grasp his hands, only for him to immediately shoot himself away, "There's a good reason you won the Sports Festival tournament aside from getting lucky with me…" she noted, causing him to grit his teeth in frustration.

"Shut up!" he yelled, running at her again.

' _Great…_ ' Raya inwardly grumbled out of her own frustration, ' _Katsuki and I can't work together and now he's all gun-ho about beating Alice!_ ' she screamed to herself, ' _That means I have to face-_ '

"Getting distracted, Tennyson?" Tenya's voice chimed, causing her to immediately widen her eyes, enveloping herself in a bright flash of luminosity as her skin became a light cerulean, while she also gained pony ears, an extended ponytail, and a pair of wings. She threw out her right leg to counter her foe's, creating a burst of wind from the impact.

"Ergh!" she grunted, clenching her teeth together before zooming off.

"I don't think so!" the spectacled teen shouted, chasing after her as his exhausts let out smoke with each stride he took. Meanwhile, his partner fired off lines of water towards her enemy, who dodged each one quickly, still rushing at her.

' _Gotta get closer…!_ ' he yelled to himself as his arms began to show blood vessels. After avoiding another gush shot towards him, he extended his right palm at her. As small explosions began to blast from it, the ice and water mage widened her eyes in realization, suddenly being enveloped in a large blast that even stretched to the trees, catching the attentions of the others from afar.

"Fullbuster!" the Engine quirk user cried out, hoping that she was okay from that. Her foe grinned almost evilly as he chuckled, ignoring the twitching pain in his right arm.

"Now that's a real win…" he muttered in satisfaction.

"Yes, it _would_ be," a familiar voice agreed, causing him to gasp in shock, turning to see the dark haired girl right behind him, smirking all the while.

"How did you-?!" His question was interjected when he saw her extend watery tendrils out from her left hand, grasping his own. "Damn it!" he cursed, blasting the liquid off of him by using his right hand, cringing in pain all the while.

"I saw what happened in your practical and your fight against Ochaco in the Sports Festival," she noted, letting both of her arms become water as she extended them forward, "As powerful as your blasts are, you have your own limits…" she pointed out, making him seethe angrily in rage.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" he roared, rushing out at her and readying his still dry right hand, despite it twitching. She merely narrowed her eyes and opened her own extremities.

"Water Cyclone!" she bellowed, unleashing a torrent of water that collided head on with her opponent, blowing him back in a yell as he tumbled across the ground.

"Katsuki!" Raya called out, about to rush over to help him until she had to block another kick from Tenya.

"Ergh…" her partner grunted, standing back up as he saw the water drip down from his arms, "Dammit…" he cursed, clenching his teeth tightly as he stared out at the ice and water mage he had been fighting. Her arms formed back to normal before she slammed her right fist against the earth, suddenly causing a bright light to shine underneath her foe.

"Ice Make…" she began to echo, causing him to grimace in realization, "ICE NEBULA!" she shouted, unleashing ice from the ground right beneath her enemy, sending him flying into the air as it pounded him relentlessly before finally shattering apart, allowing him to fall down to the ground in a dust-filled heap.

"Shoot!" the Equestrian magic user yelled, diving down to try and attack Alice as she readied her right fist.

"Recipro…" her spectacled adversary started to bellow, causing her to gasp in surprise as she saw the blue flames emerging from the exhausts on his legs, leaping up towards her, "EXTEND!" he bellowed before kicking her in the torso with his left leg, making him grimace in pain before being sent straight down to the ground, striking it in another dusty explosion.

"Ugh…" she groaned out of agony as the veil started to dissipate into thin air, allowing her to see both of her opponents looming over her.

" _Team Iida and Fullbuster have won the match,_ " the drones stated, catching their attentions, " _Team Bakugo and Tennyson are now retired,_ " they added, much to the frustration of the half-rainbow haired girl as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the clue she had from earlier.

"Here…" she reluctantly offered, glancing away ashamedly.

"You gave us a good fight, Tennyson," the class representative pointed out as a compliment while taking the slip of paper from her hands, "If it were anyone else, perhaps you and Bakugo would have been better suited to take them on," he explained as she sighed deeply.

"Thanks, I guess…" she muttered in gratitude, letting her magic deactivate as her wings, pony ears, ponytail, and light cerulean skin all disappeared.

"We should hurry in case any of the other teams are ahead," Alice advised, causing her comrade to nod in agreement. They then took off, but not before she took notice of a rather odd sight. Katsuki had sat up, looking over his arms that had water dripping from them, having a calm expression upon his face. It was as if he acknowledged that he had lost, but did not care. His female opponent ignored it as she trekked on alongside her comrade, while their drone soared after them overhead.

 **X**

"Oh, we were _so close_!" Mina cried out in dismay as both she and Eijiro were trapped in a huge chunk of ice, courtesy of Shoto, who was standing before them alongside Ochaco. He was using his left hand to melt the ice, allowing their foes to stand up on the ground.

"In hindsight, I don't think we had a ghost of a chance against Todoroki…" the Hardening quirk user admitted as he slouched down ashamedly, as his partner did the same.

"Oh come on, you two!" the brunette haired girl chimed in pleadingly while waving her arms, "We all did our best and proved how awesome we were!" she pointed out happily.

"Besides, it's just extra credit," her comrade mentioned, putting his hands into his pockets, "It's not like you'll lose any more of what you got on the final," he added.

"Coming from the guy who passed his practical, that's not exactly helping!" the red haired teen shouted angrily.

"Huh…" Ochaco sighed deeply as she looked up at the drones that flew above them, "I wonder how Deku and the others are doing…" she said with a tilt of her head. Elsewhere in the forest, a few sparks of electricity emanated from Denki as a dopey look crossed his face.

"Whee…" he uttered, sticking his thumbs up stupidly as he lied upon the ground.

"Ow…" Kyoka groaned as she was lying against a tree right beside him, "Man, we really got the short end of the straw for this one…" she grumbled, glancing out to see their opponents, being both Momo and Devlin. The former of the two was reclaiming the short-sleeved jacket of her uniform, having discarded it earlier. The latter had a very distinct and somewhat frightening appearance, having a Tetramand-like body with the same feet and left eyes as the creature. However, his lower pair of arms were like those of a Vulpimancer, while his upper left was a Pyronite's and his upper right was a Petrosapien's. He had the tail of a Kineceleran, the wings of a Lepidopterran, the back of a Galvanic Mechamorph, the right eye of a Galvan, the lure, teeth, and gills of a Piscciss Volann, and the eye track of an Ectonurite. He transformed back to normal, still having his clothes as his comrade trotted up to him.

"Nice going, Devlin," she complimented, catching his attention, "I never knew how capable an Osmosian was of taking in energy," she pointed out, sounding impressed as it made him blush a little.

"Uh, yeah," he stuttered in agreement, "My dad says that that's all the power I can handle at my age," he explained, glancing at his hands, "but at least I can do so much with it," he noted with a grin.

"Definitely," his partner concurred, "My Creation can be pretty easy, but I need to know exactly what components of my creations are before making them," she told him, forming a metal staff from her right arm as she pulled it out.

"Cool…" the hybrid alien said with widened eyes, admiring her quirk.

"Ahem," the short haired girl fake coughed, catching their attentions as they looked over at her, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything important…" she muttered while pulling out a crumpled piece paper from her pocket, "but here's your clue…" she said, handing it off to Momo, who beamed excitedly.

"Now that we have both clues, we can go get the talisman!" she realized, grasping her teammate's hand to his surprise before running off with him.

"Whoa!" he yelped, blushing all the while.

' _Man… they're so cute…_ ' the Earphone Jack quirk user muttered inwardly as she sighed, starting back over at her comrade.

"Whee hee…" he stuttered with the dopey expression still on his face, causing her to have to stifle a laugh by covering her mouth with her right hand.

"AAAHHH!" a feminine voice screamed as a flock of birds flew out from the trees. Out in another clearing, both Rikido and Toru were struggling to move as they were both stuck to the ground by purple, sticky balls, as the latter of the pair had taken off all her clothes. Overlooking them were Minoru and Rachael, with the former snickering in victory.

"I knew they'd try to sneak up on us!" he noted, giving off a thumbs up.

"Oh, this is so embarrassing!" the invisible girl exclaimed as steam was pouring out of her ears, "Sorry, Sato…" she apologized to her partner ashamedly.

"It's okay, Hagakure," he reassured, blushing a little, "I just wish we planned ahead…" he grumbled as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"Well, at least we have our two clues now," the requip user noted with a shrug, crossing her arms, "Where is it by the way?" she asked, causing their former opponents to perk up.

"Uh…" the transparent female uttered, still steaming in embarrassment, "it's… in my pants…" she confessed sheepishly, "They should be behind that tree there…" she pointed out, "Just… make sure Mineta doesn't find them first…" she advised.

"Oh don't worry, Hagakure…" the ball haired boy retorted with a wave of his hand. All of a sudden though, he saw a sword get pierced into the ground right beside him, enticing him to glance up and see the intimidating glare of the Hagane girl. "I'm gonna stay right here…" he muttered out, sweating profusely. Moments later, she returned with the piece of paper in hand, allowing her and her partner to head off.

"You sure those two will be okay?" she asked him, glancing back at the clearing where they left their foes.

"Yeah, they'll probably be free in about an hour or less," he responded, sticking his hands into his pockets, "I haven't been feeling all that great lately, so my balls might not be as sticky," he explained, causing her to cringe as she shivered a little, "Hey, can I ask you a question?" he said as they kept trotting along.

"If it's about one of my armors, don't," she advised sternly to him in response.

"No, no!" he repeated reassuringly as he waved his hands in a placating manner, "I just wanted to ask about why you're at U.A.," he told her, making her blink in surprise, "I mean, you've got an amazing power and even your own mentor…" he noted as they came to a stop, "You could be a hero or whatever without having to go through all this…" he added, noticing her grimace a little.

"It… wasn't my decision…" she said, closing her hands into fists, "Raya and I used to go a high school in her mom's universe with a few of our friends," she explained, "We were having a great time together until… something changed…" she confessed, trembling a little, "After that… me and Raya wound up here," she finished while letting out a deep sigh, wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry…" Minoru apologized, "I didn't wanna make you remember something bad…" he told her. She then cracked a grin, turning to face him.

"It's all right," she reassured before looking out at the path ahead of them, "Now let's go get that talisman!" she declared, running forward.

"Right!" her teammate agreed, running along with her. Meanwhile, Ken and Natalie were walking away from a defeated vulcan, with the former having his arms behind his head.

"Man, I wish there were better baddies for us to fight than those stupid monkeys," he muttered aloud, while his ex-girlfriend just sauntered behind him. She had said nothing other than her attacks when fighting the beast earlier, evidently nervous about saying anything to the person she had broken up with. "Hey, Nat," he chimed in, causing her to perk up, "What do you see in that Izuku guy?" he asked as she blinked in surprise.

"D-Deku?" she stuttered, blushing a little, "What do you mean?" she questioned, still stunned from his question.

"I mean, I heard you cheering for him at that Sports Festival a mile away," he responded in suspicion.

"I was cheering for everyone!" the dragon slayer retorted, becoming somewhat frustrated by his assumptions. However, he did not seem to be convinced as they kept walking.

"My dad kept talking about how amazing that guy was even after the tournament ended," he grumbled, closing his hands into fists, "All I saw was a guy breaking his bones and losing a fight to someone better," he confessed, causing her to lightly gasp and widen her eyes. Memories of her freckled friend breaking his body over and over to make his voice heard by his opponent flashed through her head as she began snarling.

"Don't…" she uttered, catching her ex-boyfriend's attention.

"Don't what?" he asked while arching an eyebrow. All of a sudden, she grabbed him by the collar of his uniform in a yelp, pulling him over for him to see the glare in her eyes.

"Don't think that he broke his bones for nothing!" she screamed into his face, "He fought with all his heart and everyone knew that!" she bellowed, letting him go and pushing him away as he was left stunned, seeing her trot off in a huff.

"Sheesh…" he muttered, trudging after her, "What exactly did he even do that made you like him so much?" he asked, not getting a reply as she kept walking forwards, ignoring him. They then reached a large clearing, seeing both their drone and another soaring overhead.

"Ribbit?" a familiar voice croaked, catching their attentions as they turned and widened their eyes to see both Izuku and Tsuyu there, who were also shocked.

" _Team Midoriya and Asui versus team Tennyson and Dragneel,_ " the drones stated together from above, " _The winning team takes the clue from the losing team,_ " they added. The Omnitrix bearer narrowed his eyes onto the messy haired boy intently, prepared to face him.

 **X**

All four of the teens got into ready stances, set to lunge out at each other at any given moment.

' _Well, this isn't exactly the best match up…_ ' the freckled male admitted to himself, glancing over at his partner, ' _Tsu's gonna have a really tough time if she goes up against Natalie…_ ' he noted inwardly, ' _and Ken's going to be unpredictable with whatever transformation he starts with…_ ' he added through thought, seeing the tan skinned boy tap the lid of the device upon his wrist, causing a green, holographic circle to appear over it.

"Game over," he said after scrolling through the extraterrestrial index, sliding the lid forward to allow the core dial to pop up. He then slammed it down with his right hand, creating a bright green flash of light as his whole body began to morph. A striped, black and blue tail shot out from his rear end, while his hands became claw-like. He resembled a semi-armored Velociraptor, having black wheels on his feet and a pointed helmet over his head. His face was blue with green eyes, black lips, and stripes above and on the right side of his eyes. The Omnitrix symbol was upon his white chest, colored in green. A visor with an x-shaped mark came down over his face before he dashed forwards in an instant.

"XLR-Ah!" Izuku yelped as he was rammed into by the Kineceleran, getting blown back and tumbling across the earth.

"Midoriya!" his comrade cried out, about to go out and assist help, but not before quickly hopping away from an attempted strike at her by the transformed foe.

"Nat, let me handle these guys myself," he advised to his partner, causing her to blink in surprise, "Wouldn't want you to waste your energy on these wannabes," he mentioned jokingly, much to both her and the Frog quirk user's surprise.

' _Why would he say that?_ ' the latter of the two females asked inwardly, extended her tongue out to try and grab him. Unfortunately, he took notice and zoomed away just in time, about to attack her.

"Tsu!" her partner's voice suddenly called out, catching their attentions as they saw him jump in, sparking with green electricity as his right fist was clenched, "SMASH!" he yelled, punching the extraterrestrial in the face and sending him sliding away with a grunt.

"Ergh…" he growled afterwards, letting his visor come up as he saw his adversary land right beside the greenish haired girl, still sparking.

"Are you all right, Midoriya?" she asked him, seeing him wipe his lips with his right hand.

"Yeah," he responded, putting his attention onto the Velociraptor-like creature in front of them, "Tsu, I don't think either of us can keep up with him like this…" he told her honestly, "but at the same time, I know you'll be at a disadvantage against Natalie," he mentioned, causing her to nod in agreement.

"But that's the thing, Midoriya," she pointed out, placing her right index finger against her chin and tilting her head to the side, "He just said he'd take both of us on by himself," she told him, causing him to blink in surprise before glancing back out at their foe.

"You done talking?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes onto them, "Good…" he muttered, letting his visor come down before dashing forwards again.

"Kenny, wait a sec!" his ex-girlfriend shouted, gritting her teeth in frustration. The mere instant Izuku understood what was going on, he gritted his teeth angrily, lunging forward.

"Ribbit?!" his teammate croaked in surprise, seeing him slam into XLR8 head on with his left shoulder, causing him to slide back a few yard. The drones continued viewing them from overhead, as Shota watched them from afar upon the screen of his smartphone.

' _So he's the bad example…_ ' he inwardly concurred, glancing out at the forest. The males fighting stared at each other intently as they took careful steps to find a good position where they could attack effectively. The alien of the two did so first, zooming out and shoving his foe away quickly.

"Midoriya!" Tsuyu yelled, seeing him get dashed off as a trail of dust was left in their wake.

"I'll be okay!" he called out to her, planting his feet against the earth to try and slow his enemy as they kept going, "Just watch out for Natalie!" he advised. She nodded and then felt a sudden wave of heat nearing towards her, turning to notice the dragon slayer running at her with her right fist cloaked in flames. She hopped over her to dodge her attempted punch, landing down with sweat rolling her head as she stared out at her, having a nervous expression upon her face. However, she blinked in surprise to see the reluctant look on the Dragneel girl's own face, knowing that she was usually excited to have a nice fight. In the meantime, their respective comrades finally grinded to a halt, with the cloud of dust and dirt dissipating to reveal that the messy haired boy had embedded his feet into the ground as they both were gritting their teeth.

"What makes you so special, huh?!" the Kineceleran of the two asked angrily as they were clenching each other's hands, "You're just some kid who thinks he can make time with _my_ girl!" he shouted, causing him to widen his eyes in absolute astonishment.

"No…" he uttered in response, making him perk before he saw him grab his right arm with both of his extremities, "I'm doing all this… to be a hero!" he bellowed, flipping him over his shoulders and slamming him down on the ground behind him. He grunted in agony as his opponent loomed over him, reeling back his right fist. "Five Percent…" he began to echo, about to throw it down onto him. However, he quickly slapped the symbol upon his chest, creating a green flash of light that blinded his adversary for a moment. When it dissipated, he looked out and gasped to see that he had transformed into a creature with an appearance similar to an earth dry cell. He had two bolts on each arm, a green lightning bolt line upon his chest, and the top of his head was shaped like a battery, with the top colored light green, and positive symbol and negative symbol on his back. His head was prominent, as his chin stuck out rather than being a part of a long, one-piece body. His eyes were almond-shaped as the Omnitrix symbol had moved to the top of his head. "Buzzshock?!" his enemy yelped in realization, recognizing the sudden transformation.

"So mister hero," he began mockingly in a very high pitched voice, "you think you got what it takes to beat me?!" he inquired, suddenly firing bolts of electricity from his hands to zap him.

"AAAAAAHHH!" he screamed in agony, careening a few steps back as his enemy stood back up.

"Hang on, Midoriya!" the Frog quirk user called out, hopping over and extending her tongue out, having it wrap around the Nosedeenian.

"What the-?! WHOA!" he yelped, interjecting his own remark as was reeled in by the female.

"Kenny!" Natalie exclaimed, jumping up as her fist still had flames emitting from it, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" she yelled as she punched the greenish haired girl in the torso, causing her to grimace as her tongue relinquished its hold on the small creature.

"I thought I said I got these guys myself!" he shouted to his partner as he floated beside her with lightning sparking out of his backside.

"When are you gonna get it through your thick skull that I'm a hero, too?!" she screamed back at him, "I don't need you taking care of things for me!" she bellowed, evidently angered as he blinked in surprise.

"I just don't want you wasting your magic on these wannabes before the real challenge starts…" he told her, much to her surprise as she widened her eyes a little, "Speaking of which…" he continued, turning his attention back onto the Frog quirk user, readying his hands as they sparked with electricity. Just as he shot a ray of lightning towards her, Izuku jumped in, picking her up and leaping away before it could strike. He landed off to the side, setting his comrade down onto her feet gently.

"You okay?" he asked as electricity was sparking around him.

"Ribbit…" she responded with a nod, rubbing her torso.

"Ugh…" Buzzshock groaned as he clenched his teeth, "I'm getting sick of this guy!" he shouted, using his right hand to slap the symbol upon the top of his head, creating another green flash of light that blinded those nearby for a moment. When it dissipated, it revealed that he had transformed yet again. He was now a humanoid plant-like extraterrestrial, having four vine-like legs, four long fingers on his hands, and flytrap-shaped flaps covering his head. Six black pods were upon his back, while he only had a single green eye upon his face. The Omnitrix symbol had moved down to a green and white belt donned around his waist.

"I won't mess around this time, so just stay back!" he advised to his partner, who just watched him extend his arms out at their adversaries. They attempted to jump away, but ended up ensnared by his binding arms as they wrapped around them, pulling them both in.

"Ergh!" the freckled teen grunted, struggling to break free along with the girl beside him.

"Told you I could handle it," Wildvine remarked to the fire dragon slayer, who crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, "Oh, don't give me that look," he advised with a grin, not noticing his male foe curling his left middle finger in, holding it with his thumb, "This means we won, and you get that extra credit," he pointed out, seeing her suddenly widen her eyes, "What?" he uttered in confusion upon seeing her reaction.

"SMMAAAASSSHHH!" the messy haired teen bellowed, flicking his finger to cause a burst of wind to blow about the area as dust billowed up around everyone.

"AH!" the Florauna yelped, having gotten some dirt in his lone eye as he closed it immediately, relinquishing his hold on Izuku in the meantime to try and rub it.

"I've got you, Tsu!" he called out as his feet touched the ground, going over to try and free her. Before he could though, he was struck at the left hip by Natalie, who had punched him with her flaming right fist to send him flying away in an instant.

"Midoriya!" the Frog quirk user cried out worriedly, seeing him tumble across the ground through the dust, which was starting to clear.

"I said he was mine!" the humanoid plant-like alien yelled at his teammate, who clenched her teeth angrily.

"Why is everything personal to you?!" she screamed at him, "Deku's just my friend!" she claimed, glaring at him.

"If he were really your _friend_ ," he began to shout back, regaining his vision as the dust had settled, "then how come my dad told me you stayed by his side after your final exams?!" he questioned loudly, making the one they were speaking of perk up as he was getting back onto his feet.

"That's because…!"

"We have… the same goal…" the freckled teen chimed in, interrupting the dragon slayer's sentence as they saw him stand up, clenching his fists tightly despite the numerous scrapes along his arms, "We're both aiming to be the greatest hero…!" he exclaimed, gritting his teeth, "For someone like you to think that we aren't doing that…" he kept going, running forwards with an enraged look in his eyes, "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO CALL YOURSELF HER FRIEND!" he roared, letting green electricity spark all over his body as he lunged at the Florauna. He gasped in surprise before extending his right arm out to grab him again, but he missed, allowing for him to ready his right fist. "FIVE PERCENT…" he started to bellow, making him grimace in realization, "DETROIT SMMAAAASSSHH!" he shouted, striking him directly in the face with all of his available might. The attack sent him careening back in an instant while also causing his hold upon Tsuyu to be relinquished. He crashed into the ground hard, coming to a stop on his backside.

"Ugh…" he groaned in agony, evidently agonized as he did not even attempt to stand up. Izuku breathed heavily as the sparks stopped appearing around him, still having his fists clenched.

"Midoriya, are you okay?!" his comrade asked as she hopped over to his side.

"I'm good," he reassured in response, staring over at Natalie intently, "Our fight's not over yet though," he concluded, getting into a ready stance.

"Ribbit!" the greenish haired girl croaked in agreement, preparing herself as well.

"No, it's over," the dragon slayer suddenly said, much to their surprise as they blinked, "Deku, I'd love to have a fight with you someday," she admitted to her friend as he perked up, "but after this…" she kept going, looking back at her fallen partner, "I think we should do it on better terms," she advised, managing to let off a little grin. Hearing her say that through his smartphone, Shota cracked a slight smile.

" _Team Midoriya and Asui have won the match,_ " his voice echoed from the drones above, catching the attentions of those below them, " _Team Tennyson and Dragneel are now retired,_ " they added as the latter of the two who took the loss went up to the former of the victorious team.

"Here," she offered, handing him a slip of paper that he took, "Good luck at the end," she said to him.

"Thanks," he replied in gratitude, nodding to her, "Let's go, Tsu!" he called out to his teammate.

"Ribbit!" she croaked, running with him towards the lone path that was ahead of them. Once they left, Natalie went over to Wildvine, hearing the Omnitrix symbol upon him beep until it timed out in a green flash of light, transforming him back into the human.

"Ugh…" he groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head, "Sorry…" he apologized, glancing away ashamedly. His ex-girlfriend just sighed deeply, looking up at the bright blue sky of her home universe.

 **X**

"Whoa…" Tenya uttered in amazement as both he and Alice had arrived at the center of the forest, where a large tree was planted, having large roots and a trunk that extended above every other sapling in the woods, "This is incredible!" he exclaimed, marveling the sight.

"My mother and father used to take me all the way out here when I was young," the ice and water mage mentioned, placing her hands at her hips, "It's an even more magical place in the evening…" she added, closing her eyes to remember such events.

"Is that so?" her partner inquired while adjusting his glasses, "Well regardless…" he continued, glancing around the area, "I wonder why Mister Aizawa is having us wait for the other four teams…" he pointed out, noticing that the teams of Shoto and Ochaco, Momo and Devlin, and Rachael and Minoru were present.

"Hey, no one in the failure group's here," the Pop Off quirk user realized as he blinked.

"Yet," his teammate corrected, placing her hand onto her chin, "I hope Raya was able to make it through…" she admitted somewhat worriedly. Just then, the groups all saw a drone arrive on the scene, gathering with the other four that were up in the air. They then noticed a pair of figures running out into the clearing from the last pathway, being Izuku and Tsuyu as they were breathing heavily.

"Midoriya?!" the ponytailed girl yelped in surprise, while her partner seemed just as astonished.

"So that means _none_ of the remedial members made it…" the Half-Cold, Half-Hot quirk user noted, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh… poor guys…" his comrade muttered, evidently concerned for those who had failed to move on.

"Kenny _and_ Raya didn't make it?!" Rachael exclaimed in complete shock.

"Bakugo, too…" Minoru mentioned, "Guess whoever he and your girlfriend went up against weren't the best match for either of them…" he noted, scratching the side of his head in wonder.

" _Attention, everyone,_ " the drones suddenly echoed in the teacher's voice, " _since none of your classmates who failed the practical are here, we're going to make this assessment a little more challenging,_ " they stated, much to their confusion as they all blinked, " _Whoever gets the talisman at the top of the tree first wins for their team,_ " they explained.

"So everyone who failed the practical didn't get this far…" the freckled boy realized, looking over at the other teams.

"We should probably split jobs with getting the talisman and stopping the other teams," his partner pointed out as she placed her right index finger onto her chin.

"Right," he agreed with a nod. All of a sudden, a rumbling occurred as they could feel the ground shake, causing them to step back nervously.

"Uh… what's going on?" Devlin asked, while his comrade glanced around before gasping in shock.

"Look!" she cried out, enticing him to glance over and widen his eyes to see the large tree roots unearthing themselves from the ground as they loomed over the teams.

"Wh-Wh-What the heck?!" the ball haired boy stammered in complete disbelief, while the requip user summoned forth a sword out of a bright flash of light, holding it in her right hand. Everyone else seemed just as stunned, watching the roots rise higher.

"Midoriya, do you know anyone with a Quirk like that?" Tsuyu asked, while the messy haired boy clenched his teeth nervously.

"Not one I remember…" he answered, narrowing his eyes onto the roots, "but I don't think it's a Quirk…" he added to her surprise as she blinked. Just then, they saw the roots start to lunge towards them. "Move!" he screamed, as both he and his teammate jumped off to different sides to avoid the attack, only to be blown back by the force of the impact.

"Midoriya!" Tenya cried out as a cloud of dust started to shroud the area.

"Tenya, go get the talisman!" Alice advised as she placed her right hand against the ground, freezing it as the ice spread to some of the oncoming roots, holding them in place for the moment, "I can handle this!" she assured, enticing him to nod before running out to the large sapling.

"Devlin, does one of your absorbed alien powers have the ability to control plants?" Momo asked her teammate, who shook his head in reply.

"I can improvise," he pointed out, morphing into his monstrous form of combined extraterrestrials, letting out a roar before flying off. In the meantime, the Creation quirk user narrowly dodged an oncoming root, somersaulting and running off quickly. In the meantime, Rachael equipped herself with a second sword, using both of them to slice past the vines coming towards her and her partner as they ran forward. Shoto froze most of the roots into place in an instant, allowing for him and Ochaco to move quickly towards the tree as well.

"Ergh…!" Izuku grunted as he slowly got back onto his feet, evidently fatigued from the previous fights he had gone through earlier. However, he closed his hands into fists as the reddish energy began coursing through him again, followed by disappearing as green electricity started to spark around his body.

' _One for All… FULL COWLING!_ ' he inwardly bellowed, jumping out in an instant. However, he remembered that his comrade had also been blown back from the initial attack, glancing back to make sure that she was okay. To his surprise, she suddenly hopped right up to him, shooting him a thumbs up in reassurance, making him grin.

"Let's get that talisman, Tsu!" he called out as they landed.

"Ribbit!" she croaked, running with him towards the large sapling. The Engine quirk user appeared to be the closest to it, prepared to start climbing until more roots sprang up from the ground, about to ensnare him.

"Ah!" he gasped, squatting down quickly, "Recipro-!" Without warning though, vines burst out from the ground behind him, wrapping around his mufflers and preventing him from moving.

"Iida!" the brunette haired girl cried out upon seeing him get trapped.

"We might not be able to even get close to the talisman at this rate!" her teammate pointed out, seeing brambles extend out from the bark of the roots towards them. He let the left side of his body ignite in flames before shooting a plethora of them out to burn away the oncoming bindings, leaving a cloud smoke to billow.

"AH!" the Zero Gravity quirk user suddenly yelped, causing him to immediately turn around to see her get hoisted up by the vines as they wrapped her up.

' _Crap…_ ' he muttered inwardly, looking back to see the great distance he would need to go in order to reach the top of the tree, ' _It'd be better if all of us were working together than in separate groups like this!_ ' he realized, running back to go and free his teammate until more brambles shot up, about to ensnare him as well. Meanwhile, everyone else appeared to having trouble just getting to the base of the sapling, having to avoid several vines sent their way.

"Huh… huh…" Alice breathed heavily as sweat trickled down her face, evidently fatigued from holding off the oncoming roots while on her own. Suddenly, more of them lunged out towards her, causing her to gasp as she had apparently no time to either set up a blockade or avoid them.

"HOWITZER…" a familiar male voice started to bellow, making her instantly widen her eyes in disbelief upon recognizing it, "…IMPACT!" he shouted as an explosion occurred right in front of her, incinerating the vines in a fiery blaze that was followed by a cloud of black smoke. Once it dissipated, it allowed for her to see Katsuki standing right in front of her with his back turned, breathing heavily as his right hand twitched.

"Katsuki…" she uttered, amazed by his tenacity and stunned by his power.

"AH!" Rachael suddenly shrieked as she was hoisted in the air by a multitude of vines.

"Hagane!" Minoru cried out, about to pull off a ball from his head until he was struck aside by another bramble, tumbling across the ground.

"Ergh…!" his partner grunted, trying to break free of the bindings as they squeezed her tightly. Suddenly, a blur zoomed by and broke her out of the vines, carrying her into the air. She opened her eyes and gasped to see that it was her girlfriend in her ponied up form, holding her bridal style. "Sweetie!" she exclaimed delightedly, hugging her as their cheeks touched.

"Uh, careful with the swords, Rae…" she advised sheepishly while blushing, heading towards the ground.

"What are you doing here though?" the requip user as they landed, "I thought you were retired from the whole game…" she noted, scratching her cheek upon being set down onto her feet.

"Mister Aizawa never said that those who didn't get two clues couldn't come here," the half-rainbow haired girl responded with a grin, "Plus… I can't leave you in a mess like this…" she mentioned, still a little red in the face.

"Aw…" her beloved said happily, embracing her again.

"A LITTLE HELP HERE?!" a familiar voice cried out, catching their attentions as they saw the Pop Off quirk user running away from the oncoming vines, screaming and crying all the while.

"So the rest of the teams that lost are able to help, too…" Izuku realized, seeing Denki, Kyoka, Eijiro, Mina, Rikido, and Toru arriving on the scene, "It might be for the best since whoever or whatever's controlling that tree…" he kept going right as another gigantic vine uprooted itself from the earth, heading for both him and his partner, "doesn't seem to be taking us lightly!" he finished, narrowly managing to dodge it as he rolled off to the side. It then began to swing towards Tsuyu, causing her to widen her eyes in surprise. "TSU!" her comrade cried out, seeing it strike the ground rather fiercely. He assumed the worst for the moment as his eyes trembled, but he then saw her in up in the air with her right arm draped around the shoulders of Natalie, making him laugh in relief.

"You two okay?" the dragon slayer asked as she landed down before her best friend, letting go of his teammate.

"Yeah, thanks to you," he responded with a nod. He then took notice of Ken running up to them, appearing to be evidently tired as he breathed rapidly.

"So… what's the deal?" he asked in between breaths, "Some kinda race or something?" he inquired.

"Or something," the Frog quirk user bluntly replied, pointing at the chaotic scene of the tree roots and brambles attacking the students.

"Maybe you can turn into one of your aliens that can control plant life!" Izuku suggested quickly as the Tennyson boy tapped the lid of his Omnitrix, making a green, circular holographic image appear over it with an index of aliens.

"If only I had one," he retorted, causing the messy haired teen to blink in astonished as he slowly scrolled through his options, "My dad's still keeping me at ten aliens until I turn eighteen," he explained, surprising the pair among them, "I mean… wouldn't it be really unfair if I had all his aliens going into this school?" he guessed with an arched eyebrow. His ex-girlfriend cracked a grin, while the other two there just blinked in surprise. After making a selection, the tan skinned teen slid the lid of his device forward, making the holographic image disappear as the core dial popped up.

"So what's the plan?" the Dragneel girl asked, folding her arms over his chest.

"Same as always," her ex-boyfriend answered with a smirk, raising his right hand up, "It's hero time!" he exclaimed, slamming the dial down to create a bright flash of green light. Granules of sand began to spread along his arm and move throughout his entire body as it grew to about six feet in size. Black panels formed upon his shoulders and chest, having green lines. One even appeared on his head as his face, looking very mechanical as he smacked his fists together. The Omnitrix symbol was upon the panel at his chest to top off the transformation.

"Sandbox?" Natalie uttered in surprise upon seeing the Granual, "Wouldn't someone like Stinkfly be better for this?" she inquired to him.

"Maybe if I was still ten," he retorted smartly, "but Sandbox's got a _big_ edge here," he pointed out, placing his hands against the chunks of torn up earth before him. He then began absorbing them into his body, allowing him to grow even larger as the others watched on in amazement. "Told ya," he remarked as he stopped, causing the pink haired girl to smirk again. He then went ahead and grasped some of the giant roots, ripping them off easily and tossing them aside to the complete astonishment and awe of others.

"I'll go get the talisman!" Izuku suddenly declared, jumping towards the sapling. The giant humanoid grinned at his tenacity, seeing him, Devlin, and Rachael heading up there. They all went ahead and freed those ensnared by the brambles, letting them follow as they climbed the trunk.

"Heads up!" Shoto shouted, firing a plume of flames to burn away vines that were pursuing them from behind. Meanwhile, the hybrid Osmosian transformed his Petrosapien arm into a blade to cut through the brambles ahead of them alongside the requip user. It seemed as if the onslaught of the vines would never stop coming, much to the frustration of Tenya as he grimaced. He then noticed the freckled teen just below him, sweating profusely as he climbed.

"Midoriya, grab my leg!" he called out to him, catching his attention as he looked up at him. He immediately understood what he meant and took hold of his right foot with both of his hands.

"Okay, I'm ready!" he yelled up to him, enticing him to nod as he kept a firm hold on the bark he was upon.

"RECIPRO…" he began to echo, letting the mufflers of his legs unleash blue flames as the one holding onto him braced himself, "EXTEND!" he exclaimed, swinging his leg up rapidly to launch the messy haired boy up into the air. He clenched his teeth as he could feel the air rushing through his hair and blowing back his lips before he reached the very top, grasping onto the edge of it with his crooked right hand.

"Ergh!" he grunted as he pulled himself up, taking quick breaths of air. He finally got onto the peak, glancing ahead to see a small wooden object standing upon a stone pedestal. Unfortunately, he saw that more brambles were prepared to attack him, making him gulp a little before developing a serious expression.

"HAH!" the monstrous creature yelled as he slashed by a few more vines. He and the others were holding them off as best they could, but were evidently fatigued as even Sandbox appeared to be sluggish from fighting for so long. He was about to be struck by a large root until it suddenly stopped along with the rest of the brambles that were surrounding his allies.

"What happened?" Momo asked, glancing around as she stood beside Kyoka and Denki.

"Hey, look!" Minoru cried out, catching their attentions as they saw him point to the top of the tree. Coming out from the brush of the leaves up there was Izuku, who had a few cuts along his arms and face, which showed a sheepish grin as he held up the object he obtained.

"Midoriya did it," Shoto realized, letting off his own little smile.

"Guess it didn't matter who got the talisman since all of us passed the practical anyway," Ochaco pointed out as she let out a sigh of relief, "but it seems kinda rewarding to know that Deku passed…" she admitted, giggling a little.

"Phew…" Devlin breathed as he transformed back to normal. As things appeared to settle down, the roots of the tree lowered themselves back into the ground they had unearthed themselves from. Those that were on the sapling came down, offering their congratulations to the victor. In the meantime, the Omnitrix symbol upon Sandbox's chest timed out after a few beeps, morphing him back into Kenny in a green flash of light.

"Well that happened," he remarked, walking over to the large group.

"Midoriya, are you okay?" Tenya asked, having seen the cuts that were along the freckled teen's face.

"Yeah, I'm good…" he reassured while rubbing the back of his head, "To be honest, I don't think any of us would've made it up there if we weren't helping each other," he confessed as he looked back at the large tree.

"What do you think could've caused all that trouble for us?" the Zero Gravity Quirk user asked, catching his attention.

"I think have a pretty good idea what went down," Alice chimed in, causing them to perk up as they saw her approach with the rest of the class.

"Congrats, Deku!" Natalie exclaimed before suddenly embracing her best friend, making him blush in embarrassment. However, she then realized she was hugging him in front of her ex-boyfriend, letting him go as she nervously looked over at the tan skinned teen. To her surprise though, he just chuckled a little, trotting up to them.

"Nice going," he complimented to the messy haired teen, holding out his right hand to him. He blinked in astonishment, but then he grinned, taking his extremity and shaking it firmly.

"Congratulations to Midoriya and Asui for winning," Shota's voice chimed in, catching their attentions as they saw him walk up to them, "You two will both get an extra day of rest and increased scores from your exam results for whatever final grade of yours was lower," he explained to them as they both smiled.

"Mister Aizawa, what was causing that tree to act all crazy?" Minoru asked, making him look over at the small student.

"That would be courtesy of a friend of ours," he responded, glancing towards the large sapling, "His name's Warrod Sequen," he said as his class and guests listened, "He's said to be the greatest user of Plant Magic in this world, even for his age," he told them.

"Whoa…" Izuku uttered, amazed by how powerful the wizard sounded.

"Now let's get you all back home," the teacher advised, pulling out his MPG and activating it.

"Aw, man…" Mina groaned as she slouched down.

"Well, I guess it's all right that we're _all_ still in the same boat…" her former partner concurred while rubbing the back of his head.

"Huh…" Denki and Rikido sighed in defeat, evidently distraught by failing to get the credit they so desperately needed.

"Just focus on working harder during training camp," Shota advised upon hearing them, selecting an icon from the holographic screen that was over his device, causing a green portal to appear right beside him, "All right, let's go," he beckoned, letting his students walk in one by one.

"Hey uh… Nat?" Ken uttered, catching his ex-girlfriend's attention, "Sorry about that whole nutty I went off on earlier…" he apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "I just… you know…" he stuttered as he blushed.

"Heh," she chuckled, wrapping her left arm around his shoulders, "It's no biggie, Kenny," she reassured, "You and I are gonna be just fine," she added, letting him go to give him a playful punch to his arm, which made him flinch for a moment before he smiled. His sister was glad to see that he and she were getting along as they all exited.

"You excited about our day off, Midoriya?" Tsuyu asked her partner, making him perk up.

"Sure am!" he responded happily, "What are you thinking of doing, Asui?" he asked, but then widened his eyes as he realized his mistake, "I-I-I mean Tsu!" he stammered in correction, waving his hands around comically in a placating manner.

"Ribbit, ribbit!" she croaked cheekily as he blinked in surprise, "Well, would you like to come along with me?" she offered kindly.

"W-W-With you?" Izuku stuttered nervously, blushing a little as they went into the portal.

"Huh…" Alice sighed happily as she glanced up at the sky, "It was nice to come back here…" she admitted with a smile on her face. She then took notice of Katsuki about to go into the vortex, remembering how he had saved her earlier. "Katsuki!" she called out, causing him to stop and glare at her as she approached him, "Why did you save me?" she asked. He merely glanced away as his cheeks started to turn red, closing his twitching right hand into a fist.

"I dunno…" he muttered, turning his back to her, "Maybe it's 'cause I… like…" he started to say, "Forget it," he grumbled angrily as he was about to leave. However, the Fullbuster girl suddenly grasped him by his hurt hand with both of hers. Before he could shout at her, he felt the cold sensation cooling his extremity and easing his pain, followed by seeing the smile she gave off.

"So you like me, right?" she inquired, causing him to blush angrily as he turned his head away. She giggled at his behavior, continuing to cool his hand as they walked through the rift. Shota followed them out, letting off a small grin before leaving the magical universe.

 **END**

 **Phew! Finally got my first fic done in a while! I know you've all been waiting for about a month for something to come, and this probably wasn't what you were expecting. That said, I did want people to understand why I decided on an Izuku X Natalie relationship as opposed to Kenny X Natalie.**

 **For one thing, I love Izuku more than Kenny. Plus, Kenny hasn't had as much development in his character as opposed to Izuku, so I can connect with him more. Also, it's not like Kenny's going to be without a girl like Kyoto is.**

 **Anyways, I'm sure you have plenty of questions about some of the elements of this story, so I'll let you ask them if need be. If not, I hope you enjoyed the story!**

 **PLUS ULTRA!**


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